guineapigfury

More likely they will cost 3 shit tons. People rape the govt when it buys stuff. I wanted an extra flight suit for my deployment and ordered it online for about 1/3 of what my squadron paid for the other ones from the supply office.

Sir, Surely you are not deriding the noble sport of ICARUS. You probably hated it because your team made you be a SAM.

Alternatively, you could move off base into something cheaper than whatever your current BAH is and apply the difference to your mortgage. However, the UPT bases tend to be in low BAH areas so you probably aren't looking at making too much $$$ doing this. You could always buy an RV and live in the camp on base, but if your wife is like most wives that probably isn't a feasible COA either.

Threeholer and JRobe, thanks for clearing that up for me. I'm seriously considering this route now.

I think you are looking for the "precommissioning loan" from USAA. I was actually able to get mine several months after commissioning. I got $25K at 2% interest, but this was several years ago. Call USAA and ask to talk to their loan department.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to be an O-4 select to get into this program? That would be the catch. If it were a free easy masters that could help you get promoted to Major, it would be a pretty sweet deal.

CAVEAT: I haven't been, but I've talked to a couple patch-wearers about going and what the course entails. My understanding is that tanker WIC is an advanced planning course with a sampling of some of the tactical stuff. I'd like to go just so I never have to wear another wing patch again. I've also heard that they have a not insignificant washout rate, so there are usually slots open because people don't want to take the chance. The resulting open slots (GIGGEDY!!!) are probably why your Wing CC is seeking applicants.

Yes, you should. It is really easy. If you are smart enough to graduate UPT, SOS in corespondence should take you about 9 hours total: 1 hour to study for each test, 1 hour to take each test, 1 hour to drive to and from the testing location each test. They sound all fired up to up the difficulty on the correspondence option, so I'd take the easy course while it's still an option.

There is no shortage of boredom. However, I've had a few sorties that more than made up for the others where we were just burning dinosaurs. I'll leave with a justified sense of accomplishment when I'm done.

You are very lucky, they can hit your for a DUI in many jurisdictions if you have the keys in the car. No matter what a taxi costs, it's always cheaper than the consequences. Smart decision to tell your boss; it is always better to bring you're own bad news. I suspect it will get written off as a youthful indiscretion. I know guys who got picked up for pilot slots with similar stuff on their records, so you have a shot.

They don't consider your ADP valid unless it has been updated within the last year. Doing it before you arrive at your first assignment is overkill. Just do it when you get there and update once a year. Talk with your flt cc and he'll be able to help you out.

If you've got your heart set on A-10s, you should strongly consider going to a Guard or Reserve Unit flying the same. You can be the top AD guy in your UPT class and if there is no A-10 in your drop, then you will not be flying A-10s. I'm an OTS grad, so I can tell you how it works. When you apply to OTS, you apply for a specific job. So you are applying for the "pilot slot itself". Your recruiter knows absolutely nothing about this process and is just concerned with making his stats ... standard. I went through OTS with prior enlisted aircrew, maintainers and even an ammo dude all with pilot slots. Or you can just walk in off the street into a pilot slot like I did. Take your time, invest the $20 in the AFOQT study guides at Barnes and Noble and good luck. Feel free to PM me.

I will say this for the commissary: You will not find a better deal on meat. Other than that they bat about .500 on beating Walmart prices.

Agreed. Maybe towel folders should just be proud of being the best towel folders they can be. This would imply they actually become proficient at towel folding, but surely that can be managed.

Yes, but Eisenhower and Powell are once in a generation talents. You can't count on having those guys, the sample size is just too small. The problem is that there are plenty of bros with an Oldsian outlook, but they're not making O-6, O-5 or even O-4. We could promote the "mission first, queep never" guys more reliably because there are plenty of them. I'm not saying that we have 1000 Robin Olds out there, but we have plenty of guys who have a similar worldview and would presumably lead in a similar fashion, although probably without the style and epic moustache.

ABIPT? Enlighten a Vance guy please.

Or drink the 12 pack yourself while you're waiting on the parachute shop to fix the flightsuit for free :) I wore the flightsuit to SERE, everyone else wore BDUs and goretex. You get one guess which poor bastard got to lead the way through the snowy underbrush in the middle of a sleet storm.

Thanks for the backup Crew Report. It wasn't my intention to start a squabble here. If anyone has any "SA building techniques" for detecting aircraft climbing up directly underneath my airplane or zooming up my 6 at 300+ knots without talking to anyone on the radio, I'm all ears.

Some of us are flying in slow airplanes with very limited visibility at night. So yes, I am watching the TCAS closely. It has saved my life on multiple occasions this deployment.

I hate to ever say anything bad about the enlisted corps, but someone needs to put these clowns in their place. O-1 > E-9 for a reason. I think the Air Force would be much better off if we just payed sergeants more, but stopped the payscale at E-7.

I'm thinking a large enough flood of AF 847s might do the trick.

I can speak to OAKN. I'm glad I came (giggedy), but maybe that's just the tax free. You can smell the Poo Pond on most days, and the Poo Pond is exactly what it sounds like. Reasonable variety of chow halls, nice gym. The flying is boring, but there's plenty of it. The wing has gone full retard on patch enforcement though, which is unfortunate.

50 cals sound sweet, but everyone who's entered UPT since about summer of 07 already knows how to fly the T-6. Whiting and ENJJPT dudes and dudettes excepted. Something that makes sense to think about as tie-breaker, so we probably won't. The real question is: which one carries napalm? I can't smell victory in the morning here where I'm at, unless victory smells disturbingly like human feces.

I'd recommend the OTS route if you can make it work. I walked off the street into a pilot slot, so it can be done. My class was full of pilots, but that ebbs and flows. If you want to be an Air Force Pilot or not in the Air Force at all, OTS is the road to take. You know that you've got a pilot slot before you show up. Plus, it's only 12 weeks, and only the first 2 are hard. Or you could go through 4 years at a military college in Colorado then drop out of UPT after your dollar ride. It was always Academy dudes who pulled this stunt, I still can't figure out why.

ThreeHoler's right. But since you don't have a primary duty right now, I'd look into knocking out a class or three. I'm still kicking myself for not grinding out a Master's during my 9 months of casual. Look into whether or not you're eligible for tuition assistance in your current situation.